It's hard to describe the feeling a product like American Memory Primary Sources elicits when first viewed - it is, perhaps, a thrill of recognition that comes after waiting for that perfect blend of scholarship, creativity, and technical prowess. Primary Sources has that, and more.
     Designed for grades 8-12, this Social Studies reference is comprehensive within its four thematic units: Identity, Power, Environment and Culture. It can be used by anyone interested in being a working historian, studying authentic documents. Classroom Connect and the Library of Congress selected from millions of documents and other media to create these amazing units which are aligned with the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) frameworks. While the individual titles have a wealth of information, the links to the Library of Congress and elsewhere make this product unique and extremely valuable to the Social Studies classroom.
     There's something about reading the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's own handwriting, listening to FDR's announcement of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or watching Rev. Martin Luther King as he delivers his, "I Have a Dream" speech which cannot be duplicated in a textbook.  This is such an impressive resource, it would be impossible to overstate its value.
     Each unit comes with a user's guide, a CD-ROM (Mac/Windows) with 150-250 sources, bibliographic information, and a website to current primary source information. Two caveats: Users will need good access to the Web (fast and reliable), as well as better-than-average technical prowess to take full advantage of all aspects of this product.